1. Field
Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method of detecting a valid UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (UARFCN) among multiple invalid UARFCNs in a wireless communication system.
2. Background
Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and so on. Such networks, which are usually multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. One example of such a network is the Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The UTRAN is the radio access network (RAN) defined as a part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile phone technology supported by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The UMTS, which is the successor to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technologies, currently supports various air interface standards, such as Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), and Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA). The UMTS also supports enhanced 3G data communications protocols, such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), which provides higher data transfer speeds and capacity to associated UMTS networks.
As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, research and development continue to advance the UMTS technologies not only to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but to advance and enhance the user experience with mobile communications. Since multiple interface standards are transmitted over the same RF band, ferreting out valid WCMDA UARFCN (UARFCN is UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number, where UTRA is UMTS Terrestrial Radio Network and where UMTS is Universal Mobile Telephone System) among invalid UARFCN, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Global System for Mobile (GSM), is instrumental in reducing latency periods for mobile wireless communication.
Thus, one such desired enhancement of the user experience relates to identifying valid WCMDA UARFCN among non-valid UARFCN when a user equipment (UE) is communicating with the UMTS network, thereby improving the efficiency of wireless communication system.